Can Blip.TV Change The Indie Production Market On The Web?
Gone are the days of heading to your local video store and snatching up a cool indie flick or two to pair up with your take out and your summer blockbuster action flick. Netflix, Hulu, and even YouTube and other content streaming sites have all but obliterated the independent DVD rental business of yesterday. Yes, Netflix has a huge arm in the rental business and Redbox is pretty popular, but you’ll find the titles are probably pretty limited if you like the good indie stuff. If you’re a big supporter of indie films or web series you’re probably checking out your favorites on a variety of different sites on the web.
Blip.tv has provided a platform since 2005 for indie producers, distributors and advertisers to provide viewers with this kind of content. The folks over at Blip.tv believe that their model is the best way to bring viewers the best independent streaming content. Shows on the site are handpicked by a team of editors and organized into several categories. Recently, the site experienced an overhaul with the company labeling it a “recast consumer facing destination ” where according to Mike Hudack, CEO and cofounder of blip.tv “viewers can find the best original programming the web has to offer.
In plain English, they’ve redesigned the site so that it is more interactive from a social media perspective and not just for viewers but for their content producers and advertising partners. This means that shows will have their own page in channels (similar to a YouTube channel) and they can recommend other programming on their page. Embedded in the page are standard social media buttons like Facebook, Twitter, Disqus and good old fashion email as methods to recommend programming that you like. Users are also able to see what programs are trending from week to week and sort through the 16 categories. There are staff picks and audience picks in each of these channels. Advertisers now have the opportunity to sponsor channels, do home page take overs in addition to the standard banner space.
While what they’re doing may not sound too original, people are catching on. To date, Blip.tv boasts more than 3 billion video views. And the site is growing, it now includes video content made by brands you may recognize from places that you visit elsewhere on the web, like the Popsugar entertainment news brand. Explore the site and you’ll find there is something for everybody. There are sixteen categories that house everything from funny comedy programs like “Old Jews Telling Jokes”, sports programs like “Inside MMA”, and the drama series “Pioneer 1”.
Blip.tv appears to be headed in the right direction. It’s got a fresh clean look. Even with advertising the site isn’t cluttered and new videos are pretty easy to locate. They could provide more detailed information about the content producers or the shows. And the ability for viewers to create custom accounts might be a bit more helpful too. Currently, there is no way to save or identify the stuff you like other than the Facebook like button. Hopefully, this reorganization of content will be the bridge builder between their content partners, viewers and advertisers that they were trying to trying to achieve. Use Blip.tv or enjoy watching the content that the independent producers are creating? Let us know how you feel.
